Apparatus for loading coil winding machine shuttles



APPARATUS FOR LOADING COIL WINDING MACHINE SHUTTLES Filed May 27, 1959 J. KLEMM Nov. 28, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENT are K {Z Y ATTORNEYS Nov. 28, 1961 J. KLEMM 3,010,505

APPARATUS FOR LOADING COIL WINDING MACHINE SHUTTLES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 27, 1959 INVENTOR AZM ATTORNEYS United States. Patent APPARATUS FOR LOADING COIL WINDING MACHINE SHU'I'ILES Joseph Klemm, Moorestown, N.J., assignor to Boesch Manufacturing Co., Inc., Danbury, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Filed May 27, 1959, Ser. No. 816,173 Claims. (Cl. 153-2) This invention relates to the art of winding coils of wire either mechanically by means of a toroidal coil winding machine employing a hollow circular shuttle carrying a supply of wire in its interior or manually by means of a straight or curved hollow needle containing a wire supply. More particularly, the invention is concerned with a novel apparatus, by which a supply of wire to be Wound into a coil can be loaded into the hollow circular shuttle of a coil winding machine or into a hollow needle for manual use. The new loading apparatus is of simple inexpensive construction and operates at a high output rate, so that a single apparatus can provide loaded shuttles required for the operation of a number of winding machines as well as loaded needles for hand winding operations.

For a better understanding of the invention, reference may be made to the accompanying drawings, in which FIG. 1 is a view partly in elevation and partly in vertical section of one form of the apparatus of the invention;

FIG. 1a is a fragmentary vertical sectional view showing the arbor extending into the passage 17a.

FIG. 2 is a view in side elevation of one form of arbor employed in the apparatus;

FIG. 3 is an end view of the arbor of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view on the line 44 of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 5 and 6 are views partly in elevation and partly in longitudinal section on an enlarged scale of two forms of shuttle which have been loaded by the apparatus of the invention;

FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view of a needle which may be loaded by the new apparatus; and

FIG. 8 is a view in side elevation of the needle of FIG. 7.

The new loadingapparatus comprises a base 10 having a pedestal 11, on top of which is mounted a motor 12 having a shaft 12a extending out of the motor housing. A block 13 is telescoped at one end over the exposed end of the motor shaft and is held in place by a set screw 13a. A sleeve 14 mounted on the end of the motor casing encloses the block and the sleeve contains a ball bearing 15, the inner'race of which fits and supports the block. The ball bearing is held in place in a groove in the outer end of the sleeve by a snap ring 16.

At its outer end, the block 13 is formed with a socket, in which is inserted the enlarged end of an arbor 17 held in place by a set screw 13b. Outwardly from its enlarged end, the arbor has a cylindrical section 17a and it terminates in an end section 17b which is non-cylindrical and may be of square, triangular, oval, or other non-circular cross-section. In all cases, the non-cylindrical section is of such size and shape that it can be circumscn'bed by a circle of the same diameter as the cylindrical section 17a.

A sleeve 18, which serves as a pusher, is mounted to enclose the arbor and it has a bore fitting the cylindrical section 17a and containing a bushing 19 at its outer end adjacent the non-cylindrical section 17b of the arbor. The pusher is kept from rotating and is urged toward the end of the block 13 by a leaf spring 20 which is attached at one end to an arm 21 secured to the pedestal 1'1 and has its other end lying within a socket in the pusher. At its end adjacent the block, the pusher carries a ball 22 held in place in a recess and projecting beyond the face 3,010,505 Patented Nov. 28, 196.1

ice

of the pusher toward the block. The block is provided with a similar ball 23 seated in a recess in its end face and adapted to engage the ball 22 as the block rotates. The balls 22, 23 operate as co-operating cam and follower means eliective to cause the pusher to be moved along the arbor away from the block once per revolution of the block. The return movement of the pusher is then caused by the spring 20.

A standard 24 rising from the base carries a plate 25 at its top and a block 26 serving as a holder is supported to depend from the plate by a gib 27 at the top of the holder, which lies within a recess in the under surface of plate 25. The holder may be moved along the gib as a guide and the top of the gib is formed with a pair of recesses 28, 29 which may be entered by a spring-pressed ball detent 30 to hold the holder in one or the other of two positions depending upon which of the recesses is entered by the detent.

The holder has a passage 26a extending through it from end to end and it is formed with a slot 26b extending transverse to the passage. A cutter 31 with a knife edge 31a is pivoted in the slot and the lower end of the slot is closed by a pair of spaced plates-32, 33 inserted into the slot. A spring 34 lyin'gbe'tween'the'opposed edges of the plates and held in place by a set screw 35 threaded into the holder urges the cutter upwardly out of the passage.

At the end of the holder 26 remote from the pusher 18, the passage is formed to receive the end of a shuttle or needle. The machine is illustrated in FIG. 1 in use in loading a shuttle 36 of circular form and a bushing 37 is mounted in the end of'the passage 26a and held in place by' a set screw 38. :The passage through the bushing is flared at the inner end of the bushing and is provided near its outer end with an internal shoulder, against which the end of the shuttle to be loaded can be seated. The wire W to be loaded by the machine is drawn from a spool or other source of supply through a tension device 39 which may be of conventional form and comprise a pair of discs faced with felt and pressed toward each other by a spring. As the wire passes between the opposed faces of the felt facings, the wire is subjected to tension depending on the force of the spring. From the tension device, the wireis led across and'in contact with the end of the bushing 19 to the section 17b of the mandrel '17. i

In the operation of the apparatus in loading a shuttle, for example, the holder 26 is first moved away from the pusher to expose the" arbor and the wire is drawn through the tension device and wound 'a number of times around the non-circular section 17b of the arbor. The coils of wire so wound about the arbor conform closely to the non-cylindrical cross-section of the part of the arbor exposed beyond the pusher and, when the arbor is rotated, it can draw wire from the supply. After the initial turns of wire have been wound on the arbor, the holder is moved back to its position in proximity to the pusher and one end of the shuttle is inserted in the bushing in the end of the passage through the holder. The motor is then turned on and the rotation of the arbor causes wire to be drawn from the supply and to be wound on the noncylindrical section of the arbor in the form of a helix 40. With each rotation of the arbor, the pusher is moved toward the free end of the arbor, pushing the wire helix ahead of it. Ultimately, the helix slips olf the end of the arbor and, as the operation proceeds, the helix is caused to enter the bushing through its flared end and to travel through the bushing and enter the shuttle. The winding of the wire helix on the arbor and the pushing of the helix off the arbor and into the shuttle continues until a supply of wire of the desired length has entered the shuttle. In order to determine the amount of wire loaded into a shuttle, the apparatus may be equipped with a counter which counts the revolutions of the arbor, and, if desired, an automatic stop ,device may be provided to shut oi the motor when the arbor has been rotated a selected number of turns. When the shuttle is loaded, the wire helix is cut by means of the cutter 31, the loaded shuttle replaced by an empty one, and the operations are repeated.

The shuttle shown in FIG. 5 is of hollow circular form and is made of a length of tubing 41. The ends of the shuttle are connected 'by a bushing 42 having end portions of reduced diameter fitting snugly within the ends of the shuttle. The bushing is provided with a passage extending through it lengthwise and an opening 41a is formed through the wall of the shuttle adjacent one end of the bushing. When the shuttle is to be loaded, its end having the opening 41a is slipped off the end of the bushing and inserted into the bushing 37 in the passage of the holder of the loading apparatus. When the supply of wire in helical form has been inserted into the interior of the shuttle and has been severed, the shuttle is removed from the apparatus, the bushing 42 is removed from the end of the shuttle, the wire is threaded through the bushing '42 and the opening 41a, and the bushing is then inserted into the ends of the shuttle. I When the shuttle is in use in the winding machine, the wire being withdrawn may be placed under tension by the straightening action, to which the wire is subjected as it isdrawn from the helix through the passage in the 'bushing and out through the opening 41a. Accordingly, the bushing used has a passage of a diameter, which is not substantially greater than that of the wire in order'to apply tension to the wire.

The shuttle 43 shown in FIG. 6 does not require a bushing to connect its ends and, instead, one end 43a is of reduced diameter and may be inserted into the other end. The end of larger diameter is formed with a slot 43b and, in the use of the shuttle, it is loaded by the apparatus in the manner previously described and the end of the helical supply of wire is drawn out through the reduced end of the shuttle and through the slot 43b. The ends of the shuttle are then telescoped together and, as wire is'withdrawn from the'shuttle, the helical supply 44 is held against the inner end of the section 43a and drag is applied to the wire as it is straightened and drawn out through the slot 43b.

The needles, which can be loaded by the new apparatus, are hollow and may be straighter curved. 'The needle 45 illustrated is of a curvature of large radius and it is hollow from end to end and has one end with an opening of substantially less diameter than that of the helical wire supply 46. In the construction shown in FIG. 7, the opening is apassage through a bushing 47 but, if desired, the end of the needle may be forced inwardly by swaging or a like operation to provide the opening of small diam- 4 plug 48 may be inserted to close this end of the needle after the wire supply has been inserted therein. 7

I claim:

1.. Apparatus for loading into the interior of a shuttle a quantity of wire, which comprises an arbor, means for supporting the arbor at one end only and rotating the arbor to wind wire into a coil encircling part of the arbor, a pusher sleeve surrounding the arbor and having an end surface guiding the wire to the arbor, a support, a holder mounted on the support and having a passage, the holder being movable on the support between an operative position in which the holder lies with the passage coaxial with the arbor and with one end of the eter. The needle is loaded through its other end by the apparatus in'the manner described and, if desired, a

passage close to the free end of the arbor, and an inoperative position, in which the holder is more remote from the arbor, means for reciprocatingthe pusher sleeve lengthwise of the arbor to advance the coil of wire wound on the arbor along the latter and through the passage, part of said reciprocating means holding the pusher sleeve against rotation, a 'cutter blade mounted in the holder and movable across the passage to sever a coil of wire therein, and means at the other end of the passage for receiving the end of a shuttle or needle and supporting the latter. v v

2. The apparatus of claim 1, in which the part of the reciprocating means holding the pusher-sleeve against rotation is a leaf spring engaging the pusher sleeve.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, in which the receiving means is a bushing removab'ly mounted in said other end of the passage in the holder. 1 4. The, apparatus of claim 1, in which the pusher sleeve reciprocating means includes means driven by the rotating means for moving the pusher sleeve along the arbor in one direction and the part of the reciprocating means'holding the pusher sleeve against rotation moves the pusher sleeve toward its initial position after ithas been moved along the arbor by said means driven by the rotating means. v 5. The apparatus of claim 4, in which the means for supporting and rotating the arbor include a block and the means driven by the rotating means for moving the pusher sleeve in one direction along the arbor include co'-operating cam' and follower elements on the block and pusher sleeve, respectively.

References Cited in the file of this patent T' UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,227,442 De Millar Jan. 7, 1941 2,249,113 Chappuis July 1-5, 1941 2,543,370 Klndt et al. Feb. 27, 1951 2,595,747 Anderson May 6, 1952 2,686,487 Carr Aug. 17, 1954 2,704,103 Wirth Mar. 15, 1955 2,735,454 Forster Feb. 21, 1956 2,740,987 Moncrieff Apr. 10, '1956 

